The collected writings of a Renegade Tourist

Tag short story

Fictionalizing the News No. 12: Late Night Trucking

The dashboard clock showed 3:05 am, he tried to suppress a yawn then reached over and grabbed his cup of coffee. He took a swig of the drink, replaced the cup in the cup holder then stared out through the wind shield. He was alone on the road, not a single vehicle in sight, and all he could see was was the stretch of road lit up by the truck's headlights and beyond that, darkness. The window was already open but he rolled it down even further,  and opened the one on the  passenger side as well. The cool night breeze, now blowing straight through the cab of his truck, made him feel refreshed and he could concentrate on the road once more...continue reading

Short Story: Autonomous System Offline

That day started just like any other. The alarm clock rang at 7:30, John turned over in bed to try to shut the noise out but couldn’t ignore it so he rolled out of bed with a grumpy “Alright, I’m up!”  His AI assistant replied “Alarm off,” and the beeping stopped. He went into the bathroom to start his morning routine. He was in the middle of getting dressed when there was a ‘bong’ from the AI assistant’s speaker “You’re transportation has been arranged, it will arrive in eleven minutes” the neutral voice informed him. “Thanks Siri,” he mumbled out … Read the rest

Fictionalizing the News No. 10: The Car Chase

Spring had yet to arrive to Örebro, this morning it was overcast and a couple of degrees below freezing. Lars turned up his coat collar to shield himself from the cold and started walking towards the ICA supermarket a couple of blocks away. He muttered under his breath as he walked, angry at himself for forgetting to buy breakfast but there was nothing else he could do about it. As he was passing the central station a thought struck him, there was sure to be a Pressbyrån kiosk in the station concourse; he could buy himself a coffee and an overpriced sandwich, then sort out breakfast for the coming week later in the day. He veered off his original course and headed back towards the station building...continue reading

Fictionalizing the News No. 9: The Sex Offender

He felt the mans hand on his thigh, and though he couldn't quite define why, he felt there was something intensely wrong about it. He looked up at the man, thinking he should protest in some way but the man gave him a stern look that silenced him directly. The mans hand moved slowly up and down his leg, kind of like a caress, but it didn't feel good like when his mom hugged him and stroked his back. Too afraid to do anything else, he tried to ignore the bad feeling and...continue reading

Fictionalizing the News No. 8: The Bomb Scare

Jonathan Wright was tired, he had been traveling for close to 24 hours now, only getting a few hours of sleep on the long haul flight from Jakarta to Istanbul. Now he was in Paris, one last flight and he would be home in London. After passing through security for the third time this trip, a process that was always an enormous hassle, he went straight to the gate and sat down in one of the chairs. Normally he would walk around looking in the various tax free stores but he had no energy, instead he connected his phone to the airport WiFi and started listlessly watching YouTube videos. ...continue reading

Fictionalizing the News No. 7: Through the Hedge

Bertrand Herriot woke up early on October 15, it was only his second time to go hunting this season, his boss had kept him busy at work lately, and he wanted to get out as soon as possible to make the most of the day. He got dressed, ate a hearty breakfast of buttered farmhouse bread and black coffee, wolfing it down two bites at a time, then started preparing his equipment. The ground in the forest was bound to be wet after several days of rain so he brought out his rain boots and packed a pair of water tight trousers in his back pack just in case. He packed the hunting knife, the small first aid kit and a box of ammunition as well as a thermos of coffee, a small lunch consisting of half a baguette, a piece of cheese and an apple, and as a last afterthought, a small hip flask of cognac; he knew the rules said you couldn't drink but he felt a sip now and then to warm you up couldn't hurt. ...continue reading

Fictionalizing the News No. 6: The Stampede

Malika was standing at the fence just a couple of meters from the Tarajal crossing, she had been one of the first to arrive that morning and now she was waiting for the checkpoint to open. The sun was just starting to rise, the world bleak and gray in the predawn light, and the air was still cool, but as soon as the sun was over the horizon it would start to get hotter. Looking over towards the other side, she could barely make out the faint outlines of houses of Ceuta just a few hundred meters away. ...continue reading

Fictionalizing the News No 5.: The Early Release

Afternoon of November 12, 2016, court clerk Thompson looked over the sentencing order one last time, printed it, then placed in her outbox with a small post-it note marking it for Justice Cunningham. She sat back down in front of her computer and brought up the Court Document Retrieval System. “Ok, let's see here” she mumbled under her breath then started to navigated the antiquated file system in search of the next order. “Ah, There we go,” she commented to herself as she checked out the PDF-file for case 20165634 and started reading it through. Continue reading...

Fictionalizing the News No 4.: The Trump Letter

They were serious men who gathered around the conference table that morning, all dark suits and no-nonsense facial expressions. At the head of the table was John Bellinger, a former State Department legal adviser under Condoleezza Rice. A number of other prominent men were spread around the table, among them Michael Hayden, former director of both CIA and NSA, previous Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and former Homeland Security secretaries Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff. ...continue reading

Fictionalizing the News No.3: The Police Shooting

Wade Irwin stepped into the police cruiser and set the two mugs of coffee down in the cup holders. Jonathan DeGuzman pulled out from the curb then reached for his cup and took a sip. “Jeezus Christ Irwin what did you get me? It tastes like sugar and fucking battery acid.” “You asked for a surprise so I ordered the gayest sounding thing they had on the menu” his partner replied. “God damn it” continued DeGuzman “this shit is undrinkable, next time just get me a cup of plain black coffee.” Irwin frowned “Pfft, next time, you get the coffee.” Continue reading...

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